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England clinch thrilling victory in the first Test of the series- England vs Pakistan, Test 1, Day 4

England clinch thrilling victory in the first Test of the series- England vs Pakistan, Test 1, Day 4

Pakistan began the day with two wickets remaining. With a lead of 137-8 with a lead of 244. 

Yasir Shah attacked the England bowlers, scoring fluidly. Consistently sending the deliveries from Broad and Archer to the boundary. 

He soon fell to the bowling of Broad. Shah went for another big shot and edged the ball through to Jos Buttler. He was dismissed for 33. 

The final batsman, Shah was out for 4. A full straight delivery was missed by the batsman and went onto the hit the stumps. Pakistan were bowled out for 169 and had a lead of 276 going into the final innings of the Test match. 

England’s opening pair got off to a decent start, both leaving the ball well managing to take advantage of any bad balls offered by the Pakistani bowlers. 

Burns soon lost his wicket. He was struck on his thigh pads by Abbas. Burns reviewed the decision of out, but the decision was upheld as the ball was judged to be hitting the wicket on umpire’s call. Burns departed for 10 with England on 22-1. 

England reached lunch 55-1. Root and Sibley battled through to lunch, both managing to fend off the world class leg spinners in the Pakistan side. 

England continued in vain after lunch, carefully playing the leg spinners. England made it to 86 before losing their second wicket of the day. Sibley looked to drive Shah down the ground but ended up edging the ball to slip. The Warwickshire batsman was dismissed for 36. 

England soon lost another wicket, captain Joe Root edge a ball from Shah which nestled into the hands of first slip. Root failed to get his half century and was out for 42. 

Things got worse for England when Ben Stokes gloved a ball from Shah and departed for 9. This was crucial wicket for Pakistan, and it meant that they were deep into the England batting line-up. 

England’s batting line-up began to collapse Olly Pope fell for 7. A short ball from Shaheen Afridi rose on Pope and hit high off the bat and was eventually caught. England fell to 117-5. 

Buttler and Woakes counter-attacked brilliantly in the afternoon session. Both playing positive shots against stabs spinners of Pakistan. Buttler swept the spinners well providing scoring opportunities for England.  

Both batsmen surpassed their half centuries and with it cultivated a partnership of 139. The sixth wicket partnership Woakes and Buttler dragged England back into game and brought them within touching distance of the total. 

England got with 21 runs of the total when Buttler fell lbw to the bowling of Yasir Shah. Buttler tried sweep the spinner but was struck on the pads. He immediately reviewed the decision of out but to no avail. Buttler was out for 75, he played a superb innings and provided a base for England to come back into the game. 

Broad was out in the same fashion as Buttler, he tried to sweep but was struck on the pads and was given out. He fell for 7. 

Chris Woakes hit the winning runs, he looked to drive a full ball and it caught the edge. Luckily for England and Woakes the ball flew through the slip cordon and down to the boundary for 4. England successfully chased the 277 they were set to win the first Test of the three-match series.  

Review:

This is a huge victory for England. They had their backs up against the wall from the very first innings. Pakistan managed to build a good lead in the first innings through long partnerships through the innings and in large part to centurion Masood. The good batting performance was then back up by the Pakistan bowling attack, they entered the second innings with a good lead. 

However, England came battling back in the second. They managed to peg Pakistan back and limit their lead. 

England’s momentum continued on into their final innings. A good base was built through the likes of Root and Sibley. The hosts looked to be sensibly and cautiously moving towards the total of 277. 

England’s then slumped to 117-5 and were looking like they were heading towards defeat. But the brilliant resilient and counter attacking batting by Woakes and Buttler saw the pair put on a partnership of 139 for the sixth wicket. This partnership saw England battle back and crawl towards the total. 

England went on to win the Test match. This was brilliant Test match cricket. England showed great resilience and found a way to win in game that looked like it was a certain Pakistan victory. England continued their form winning three Test matches on the bounce. 

As for Pakistan, they lost their way in the second innings. They failed to bat long in the second innings, if they had scored 200 and had built a lead over 300 England would’ve struggle to reach this target. 

The visitors then didn’t get their tactics right when it came to bowling. When they had the tail enders in at the crease, their tactics were tame. Woakes who had previously in his career has been susceptible to short ball was spared from the short ball. Whether this is a tactic that would’ve worked is unknown, but the visitors bowled an easy and comfortable length that the England batsman were able to profit off of. 

The teams will now travel down to Southampton for the final two Test matches of the series, the first of which starts on Friday.

Liverpool sign Olympiacos left-back

Liverpool sign Olympiacos left-back

England claw their way back into the Test- England vs Pakistan, Test 1, Day 3

England claw their way back into the Test- England vs Pakistan, Test 1, Day 3